Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Mr. Speaker, in keeping with today's theme, I, too, would like to offer my thoughts on the effect of the recent, short-sighted federal decision to cut literacy funding for a number of territorial literacy advocacy groups who also deliver literacy programming to NWT residents and the cuts to funding for a portion of the Literacy Program delivered through Aurora College.
All in all, Mr. Speaker, the NWT will see $600,000 in cuts, with the NWT Literacy Council losing roughly $350,000 and Aurora College losing $125,000, and other organizations like the Federation franco-tenoise will also see their funding reduced. These cuts are particularly hard on a jurisdiction like ours where we do not have the ability to fund programs from other revenue sources.
In short, Mr. Speaker, to replace the federal funding will mean that another program or service will have to be cut.
Mr. Speaker, these cuts will be especially hard on the NWT Literacy Council and will challenge their ability to stay in operation past March of 2007. Losing one-third of their budget will mean no funding for governance, no pay for the executive director, and the end of community-based literacy programs.
In a press release deploring the cuts, the executive director of the NWT Literacy Council posed a number of very relevant questions in response to the federal government's position that funding national literacy initiatives is an adequate alternative to funding community-based literacy programs; and I quote, "Who is going to organize a National Literacy Program that will meet the needs of the people of Aklavik? Who in Ottawa will travel to Fort McPherson to offer family literacy training? And which national organization will work to create literacy materials in the aboriginal languages in the NWT?" Mr. Speaker, I believe these questions highlight the need for and the relevance of the NWT Literacy Council in the day-to-day lives of the residents of the NWT.
Mr. Speaker, Aurora College has also been severely impacted by the cuts. Funding for the student support centres at the Aurora College campuses is cut. So college students who need some extra help will be impacted. There will be two literacy outreach programs that will probably cease to operate.
Mr. Speaker, we are fortunate there are corporate citizens like BHP and Diavik that are working with and providing opportunities for their northern employees who want to improve their literacy and we thank them for this. However, Mr. Speaker, that responsibility lies primarily with all levels of government and it now appears that the federal government has abandoned those adults with literacy problems to us as a territorial government and NGOs.
In closing, I wanted to reiterate how disappointed I am with the actions of this federal government. Thank you, Mr. Speaker.
---Applause